User Unfriendly
by Deesse-De-Lune
Summary: based on User Unfrienly by Vivian Vande Velde
1. Game Intro:doubt and circumstance

when Shelton came up to me and Noah between math and bio on friday, it never occured to me   
  
what we might be getting ourselves into as he quickly and quietly explained this whole   
  
Rasmussem idea to us. Noah was trying to act like this wasen't a big deal, taking to Shelton-a   
  
skinny kid with glasses and in a wheelchair, in the tenth grade wing. we got the information out   
  
of him as quick as possible: meet up at his house (his basement, to get technical) on Saturday   
  
morning. I was a little wary; did I really want to waste a Saturday in a basement? but Noah   
  
talked me into it. he's a fantasy-game nut, even though he won't admit it. and it is pretty fun,   
  
although when you think about it, it's gotta look pretty brainless from the outside:a group of kids   
  
rolling dice and scribbling on graph paper, talking about curses and jailtime and caves. but   
  
whatever. so Noah and I show up on Saturday, and Dominic lets us in. he's a kid from one of   
  
the lower grades, I only recognized him form the nature club, which meets in the tenth grade   
  
wing about the time we get out. Shelton's parents split up when he was young, and his mom is a   
  
real estate worker and isn't around on Saturdays. we went down to the finished basement, and   
  
Noah and I sat down on the loveseat. Shelton was at his computer, as usual, typing in some   
  
kind of web script. Giannine, a girl I used to hang out with, was sitting in a lounge chair. she   
  
smiled hesitantly when she saw me. I smiled back, not really paying attention. Dominic, the guy   
  
who'd let us in, was on a cushion in the middle of the floor, as was Cleveland, a short guy who I   
  
only barely recognized. I finished taking this in as two more people came into the room-A kid   
  
called Arvin, I think it was, and a woman I didn't know behind him. Arvin went over to Shelton   
  
and talked quietly with him as the rest of us waited. I looked at the woman. she was petite, and   
  
looked to be in her mid-thirties, with short brown hair and big eyes. Arvin nodded at Shelton   
  
and went over to the woman. she took a seat in the recliner and Arvin joined the boys on the   
  
floor. apparently we were all here, because Shelton exited out of his computer script and   
  
swiveled around to face us. "As most of you know-" he stopped, and said, "Alright, as none of   
  
you know, I have been looking for a long time into a role-playing game, or RPG, that I found on   
  
the internet. Rasmussem, inc, is a company devoted to RPG, but they have a feature that other   
  
games don't." here he paused for a dramatic finish, "Rasmussem has the power to send you inot   
  
the game." I guess this sentance didn't get the effect he was looking for-our clueless faces led   
  
him to explain, "Rasmussem transmits their story to your brain, turning it into brainwaves," he   
  
launched into a long schmeel of technical explaining of which I tuned out, trying to grasp what he   
  
had said.send you into the game-like a holodeck or something? I was starting to think this could   
  
be interesting. I tuned back in to hear Shelton say, "So you can all come to the computer and   
  
create your charector. once you are finshed, click submit-only you will know who your   
  
charector is." Cleveland spoke. "How much does this cost?" Sheldon cleared his throat. "Ah,   
  
well, normally, around $200 per person." this was enough to make us all look up, mouths open.   
  
"But," Shelton said hurridly, "I-I-tapped into the system. it's free." a sigh of relief. "you hacked it,   
  
didn't you Shelton," said Giannine. he didn't answer, which we all took for a yes. "I've already   
  
programmed my charecter," he said instead, "so you all go and we can get started." people   
  
went up and came back, looking mildly more interested then before. Arvin and the woman, who   
  
I finally deemed his mother, went up, and then it was our turn. mine and Noah's, I mean. I sat   
  
down at the computer with Noah looking over my shoulder. the screen looked like this:  
  
  
  
INDICATE HOW MAY PLAYERS:_  
  
  
  
I typed in 2. the screen shifted to:  
  
  
  
NAME: _ PLAYER NAME: SEX: F)M) PLAYER: F)M)  
PROFESSION:   
  
  
  
NAME: PLAYER NAME: SEX: F)M) PLAYER: F)M)  
  
  
PROFESSION:   
  
  
  
I looked at Noah. he looked at me. we had talked about what we would do if we were to   
  
make up our own characters. "Robin Hood?" he asked me. I nodded, and typed:  
  
  
NAME: Dawn Marie PLAYER NAME: Robin Hood SEX: F PLAYER: M  
PROFESSION: Thief  
  
  
  
NAME:Noah PLAYER NAME: Maid Marian SEX: M PLAYER: F  
PROFESSION: Swordmaster  
  
  
  
the list went on, asking about what clothes we wore, how we spoke, what we carried. we finally   
  
finished and returned to our seats. we were the last ones to go, so when we finished, Shelton   
  
returned to the computer and clicked a button. a strange, sing-song, humming sound emitted   
  
from the computer, and I suddenly felt tired, so tired...  
  
  
  
When I woke up, I was in the game. 


	2. Part one:In the beginning, there were or...

I was behind what appeared to be a barn. a very tiny barn. I craned my   
  
head up to see a thatched roof, and the 'Robin Hood' me told me that it  
  
was a house, that happened to smell like a barn. suddenly, I felt a   
  
sharp something dig into my head, and a whirled around to see a chicken  
  
making off with a piece of my scalp in its beak. I muttered some   
  
outlaw-like words as I hoisted myself up, looking around. it looked to   
  
be early morning, and I could see mountains in the distance. the sky   
  
was a pale blue, with a mist of clouds forming over it. I walked around  
  
the house and passed a pond. as I glanced at it as I walked by, I had   
  
to quickly swing back and make a double-take. I was a fairly young   
  
version of Robin Hood, clean shaven, with fairly delicate features,   
  
thin lips, and short, short light brown hair. I felt uncomfortable  
  
lumps of daggers concealed in my boots and at the small of my back.   
  
suddenly I wondered if my voice had changed. I spoke. "oghm."  
  
my voice was strangly deep-that was going to take a bit of getting used   
  
to. gulping at these drastic changes, I walked coutiously into the   
  
street. it was crowded, for early morning, and I looked around, hoping,  
  
in a moment of forgetfulness, to spot someone I knew. the strangest  
  
thing was, I saw a young woman dressed in green, who seemed familiar   
  
somehow. I approached her carefully, trying to be inconspicuous. she   
  
looked up at me, and choked. "Dawn Marie?!" she-he!- said in a high   
  
voice. I gulped and nodded. Noah started to laugh.  
  
"This is so-so-bizzarre!" Noah had long brown hair in a braid. I was   
  
flabbergasted, but still, it was pretty amazing-even in all this, Noah   
  
and I had some kind of-what do they call it-psychic connection. wow.   
  
we headed toward the local tavern. Dawn Marie wouldn't have known this, but I was getting it from my Robin Hood side. "So," I said to Noah, "The objective is to find Rasmussem. where should we start?" Noah looked around. "Let's ask." I looked at him. "That's allowed? we won't be, I dunno, cursed or anything?" Noah shook his (her?) head, making the braids fly. "Nah, they wouldn't sic us this early in the game." I shrugged. "okay, who should we ask?" Noah led me towards the tavern before I pulled to the lead. "You're the girl now!" I explained. "I get to lead!" he laughed. I grinned. "The tavern tends to be a good place to go for information." he said, but before we made it to the door, a commotion from behind us caused us to turn. there, in the middle of the sqaure, was a very,very short man. "A dwarf," Marian hissed. "People of Rasmussem." he shouted. OK. that took care of one thing. "I am Feordin Maceweilder,son of Feordan Sturdyaxe, grandson of Feordane Boldheart, brother to Feardone the fearless,great-gra  
  
ndson of Feordine Stoutarm who served under Graggaman Maximus." and   
  
with that rather langthy intro, he got off the stump he had been   
  
proclaiming from and walked into the tavern. Noah and I looked at each  
  
other and, in another psychic moment, nodded and followed him in. 


End file.
